Not So Alone in this Lonely World
by XxSheik13xX
Summary: A series of moderately random one-shots, most if not all will be CrowxSeto and angst, and probably a fair amount of fluff. May also include AUs, and alterations on the canon. These are in no specific order. I do not own Fragile Dreams. Rated T to be safe.
1. To Die, is to Have Lived

I'll hold on. If it means seeing you again, seeing your face for one last time before I go…I'll try my best to hold on.

There's no pain, but I'm breaking down. My movements are slower, my steps aren't steady, all of my senses are going at once. My hearing is the only thing that seems to be lasting, even slightly, but with the constant rumble of rushing water in the background of this place, maybe I was already going deaf so I don't notice it as much.

All I feel anymore is anger, and fear. The anger from coming so far, for it all to be for nothing. I may have found out _what_ I am, but that's not enough, and it won't help me now, and I kind of already knew. The fear…of the unknown, of never seeing you again. Even though I mocked you, and forced you to chase me around, you still smiled at me. That smile that I know would have been heart-warming…if I had a heart.

I can barely stand, and my vision is blurring, but the thought of you keeps me going. At least until I cannot walk, no matter how hard I try. I still try to crawl, though, at least into a room where I can die with my own kind. Decrepit and lifeless, there are the same as me, deep down in my core, I am the same as them. I sit, slouching against a wall and close my eyes, in between two mountains of them. I keep telling myself that any minute, you'll walk through that door. I know it probably isn't true, but in my final moments, I can hope, can't I? I'm not hoping to live, or for you to save me, just for you to walk through the door. I just want to see you again.

I keep fighting the urge to allow the darkness to envelop me. I know the end is near, but I try to keep myself distracted and awake with hazy memories of you. I play over and over the dreadful moments when we parted ways, when I went right and you went left, and we were never to meet again, until….

The door slowly creaks open, and I almost regret my wish, I almost regret holding on. You step through the door, and your eyes slowly drift across the room, across the piles of dolls, discarded, and just like me. I'm not looking at you when you see me, nor when you entered the room. Your footsteps were light and crisp, just like back then, and even to my own surprise, I recognized them, even though this time they are accompanied by light echoes, bouncing off the walls. The shock in your voice when your eyes must have finally landed on me was so intense, so pained as you called out my name. I hear your resounding steps approaching, and I force myself to lift my head and open my eyes to look up at you. I can barely see you, your figure is blurry, but I praise you for being able to recognize me, trying to feign strength. Beginning to ramble on, I thoughtlessly mention my battery and my lack of adequate vision. I can hear the sadness in your voice as you begin to say what I am. I cut you off, not wanting to hear you say it. I already know, but I don't want to hear the word, especially not from you. "That's right, you ain't looking at a human." I force the words from my mouth even though we both already know. There's no need for me to say it, but I do anyway. You protest, and so do I, continuing to bitterly mutter self-loathing remarks, reminding you that I'm not like you, not _human_. It's mostly just me trying to push you away so you don't have to see me like this, so that this isn't your last memory of me, but the words and my feelings are still true. You remind me of our friendship, and my remarks don't sway you. Tears begin to fall from your eyes and I begin to feel guilty for upsetting you, and realize my attempts to push you away are futile, so I give up and cave.

You're holding me tightly and sobbing, and I can't stand it. I want to return your embrace, and insist that you'll be fine without me, but even the words I am managing are difficult enough as it is. I don't want to lose you as much as you don't want to lose me, but I can't manage tears like you can. I've never been able to.

I urge you to stop crying, and you tearfully agree, but continue. Voicing my jealously over your ability to cry, you still continue. I hate for you to see me like this, and I hate to see you so distressed, but I couldn't think of any better place to die than in your arms. I'm sure if I had a heart, it would be beating out of my chest now. Your arms around me, your head on my shoulder, your tears being shed for me, and your warmth. That human air, the warmth of a living being that I scoffed at and pretended to be disgusted by is the only thing making these moment tolerable. That seeming disgust back then was merely envy wrapped in a shell, my hatred for those who had what I longed for, _life._ I don't feel that toxicity anymore, not after meeting you, getting to know you. I found that I can be happy through your happiness. I can live, in a way, through you.

I try to make idle conversation, as if this isn't the last time it'll happen. As if tomorrow everything will be back to normal, and this isn't happening. Through your tears you seem barely able to choke out words, but I do my best to keep a calm front up. One of us has to stay strong, so I do, for your sake.

Everything, the surroundings, the sights, the sounds, the smells, all of it is almost gone. The only thing left in my world is you. My thoughts, my senses, all I register is you. "Y'know…you're the first real friend that I ever had." Your words…I barely have time to begin to process them before my mind goes blank. Everything is gone. There isn't much time left. After a few moments of nothingness, it's all suddenly back. I'm still in your arms, you're still crying for me, and I still want to live.

" _Thank you for everything…Seto."_ My final words to you, my final regards to the world, a simple phrase to sum up everything I desperately want to say to you, but don't have the time for. I wish we'd never parted ways that time. I wish I could've told you everything, shared every sight with you, and shared those days of endless adventure with you. I wish we'd met sooner. _I wish we had more time._

My eyes slowly begin to droop closed, my efforts to fight it no longer doing any good. I allow myself to accept my fate, and try to be happy as I do, knowing I was able to spend these moments with you, and convey everything I wanted you to know in a short, simple little phrase before it was all over. The last thing I hear is your gentle sobs, the last thing I feel is your warmth, and your arms holding me, and my last thoughts are of you. You are my world.

As my eyes completely close, the darkness takes me from you, slowly, and I let it. I don't fight it anymore, knowing there's nothing either of us can do, and knowing that my existence, and my death, were not mysteries to you.


	2. Forever Chasing After You

The lights, the sounds, the music. All of it flows through the crisp night air under the crescent moon and brightly shining stars. Crowds bustle about in a hurry, chattering and laughing as they move from one glittering attraction to the next. The scent of freshly baked sweets wafts from every corner, and lingers in the air. It's all so intoxicating. All so new, so bright, so beautiful. I never want to leave.

Gazing about, trying to take it all in at once, I bump into you. You whip around and harshly sneer at me. The crowd moves on in spite of us, creating a slight opening where no one takes any notice of us, only paying enough mind to maintain the gap.

Your cocky and confident air, and bullying manner make me more timid than usual, shying away into myself, just wanting to disappear into the crowd. You decide to introduce yourself, and say your name is Crow, and badger me with questions. Asking what I'm doing, where I came from, who I am, why I'm here, and cutting off my responses half way to throw more questions at me. All the while examining my apparently strange appearance, even though your attire is strange too, and seeming to have taken a bit of an interest in me, or at least something of mine.

Snatching it off my neck, you examine my locket, admiring it and the lights reflecting off of it brilliantly, and commenting on it and how you believe it would be better off in your hands than mine. I try to steal it back, protesting that it's important to me, but you skillfully weave in and out of the crowd to avoid me, obviously having had a lot of practice at it. You taunt me, saying I'll have to chase after you to get it back, and make my desperation to get the locket back seem idiotic as you disappear off into the mass of people. I quickly dash after you, barely keeping you in my sight, but every time I try to catch you and think I almost might, you evade me.

I refuse to give up, despite my lack of luck, continuing to pursue you, running and bumping into more people than I can count, chasing after you and playing along with your little game of cat and mouse. You force me to chase you around the merry-go-round, through tall grass and tea cups, and through restricted areas and the rails of a rollercoaster. I persist through it all despite my aching limbs shouting at me to stop, to rest for even a moment. I try to ignore it all for the simple sake of getting my prized locket back that I treasured so dearly.

Thinking that you're clever, witty, or just to spite me, after one of my failed attempts to catch you, you decide to investigate why I'm so intent on getting the necklace back. Popping it open, inside all you remark seeing is worthless junk. Regarding it all as meaningless, even though I insist differently and continue to plead for you to return it to me, you simply snap it shut again, and slide it back into your pocket, again insisting that you'll never give it back, and that I should just give up and let you keep it.

I'm at my wits end, and you've gone and disappeared again. I resign myself to the likely possibility that I'll never get it back, and allow myself to finally take a break from sprinting after you and constantly apologizing to the people I run into along the way. I wipe away tears that threaten to drip from my eyes at the thought of losing something that held so many memories, forever. Everything I held dear to me, gone, in the hands of a reckless, cold-hearted fool.

I pick myself up, if for no other reason than to not be an eyesore in the shadows any longer. Dragging myself through the crowd, it's apparent that I've lost hope, knowing there's no way I'll find the thief in this place, having no energy left to chase him, and no idea where he is. Letting myself be directed and guided by the whims and movements of the crowd, I find myself in the center area. Merry-go-round in the center of everything, ornate and beautiful, like a complimenting, matching centerpiece to the Ferris wheel at the far end of the area. That's when I see you, somewhere no one should be, somehow out of sight and out of mind, atop the center support of the Ferris wheel. On your perch, where none seem to take notice you, you appear to be looking for something, or someone. It looks like you're just sitting there, bored out of your mind, waiting, watching. I stop in my tracks, and the crowd just shifts around me. I can't help but wonder if it's me you're looking for, but no sooner is the guess released into my mind than it is shot down.

Whether it's me or not, I found you, yet again. Approaching the base of the Ferris wheel, I find a tattered old book lying on the ground, slightly hidden next to the route I can only assume you took to get to where you are. Pausing a moment to investigate, I pick up the book, and see the title is _Pirate Isle._ Skimming the pages, I find dialogue that reminds me of ours. Many lines in the book seem the same as things you've said to me, and I start wondering. Reading one of the last lines, I take note and make sure to remember it, to see if I might be able to confirm a hunch. With tired eyes and heavy limbs, I begin the journey up to where you are, somehow not noticed or reprimanded by any staff or adults.

The wheel turns in a sort of methodic rhythm, and the lights burn my eyes. They occasionally shift to different colors, and I can't stop myself from gawking at their beauty, stopping for a moment part way up, and just watching them even though I know it's not a good idea, and it hurts. I watch the people who don't see me drift by. I glance below me, at everything, everyone. I don't have as good of a view as you yet, but I can already tell why you came here. Somehow I feel like I know that you love it up here. It's so pretty, everything shining, so energetic and somehow comforting to watch, it's mesmerizing, and absolutely remarkable.

Thinking about all that's happened as I continue to climb to meet you, my anger, my frustration, begins to fade, slipping away, leaving only tiredness and hope. The hope that you're just as tired as I am, and maybe you'll give me my locket back. That hope allows me to keep going.

Reaching where you are now standing, dangerously close to the edge, I sluggishly demand my locket back for what feels like the hundredth time. I feel like I may fall asleep any moment, and rely on the blazing lights to keep me awake. You call me stupid again, and continue to taunt me. I dejectedly seat myself a little ways from you, trying to ignore your rude comments. My legs dangle off the edge of the narrow platform, and I watch the activity below.

Seeming confused, you seat yourself as well, slightly closer to me than you were, and I can see you tentatively looking at me out of the corner of my eye. "Here." You mutter, digging around in one of your pockets, and finally emerging with my locket grasped tightly. You hold it out to me, and with nervous hands, knowing well what could happen if it fell, I wrap my fingers around it and you slowly release yours, allowing it back into my custody without making eye contact.

We sit there for a few awkward moments that turn into minutes, until the tension is broken by you. "Listen, I'm sorry for stealing your locket…and…I got to see your special thing, so I'll show you mine. Take a look." You say as you rummage through one of your pockets again, but this time pull out an ominous photo. I peer at it as you hold it out before me. It appears to be you, standing in what seems to be a lab, standing next to an old man one can only assume is a scientist. You have a blank, dull expression in the picture, and after a couple moments, you pull in back and put it back in your pocket. You begin to explain that you can't remember your entire childhood, and you want to find the place in the photo, hoping it might give you some clues into your past. I feel like I realize now, somehow, that you're not an awful person, as you previously seemed to be. You mention that you've been on your search for a long time, and you believe the place you're looking for is near this one. I pity you, just a little. I'm able to hold onto everything, every little memory and keep it close to me always, in the little locket that I retied around my neck, and you have nothing like that. It's sad, and I feel sad for you.

The conversation between us continues back and forth for a little bit longer until it's close to its natural stopping point, where it seems we will part ways. Remembering the book I picked up earlier, I hesitantly speak. "So…Will I…Do you think I'll ever see you again?" There is slight hope in my voice, and I realize that I actually hope your answer will be 'yes.'

"Yeah. Of course we will. Friends always see each other again. And we're friends now." Your words are confident as ever, as you recite yet another line from the book. My hunch is confirmed. "Uh! Oh yeah…Another things friends always do is give each other presents!" You add, deviating from what's written in the book. Not wanting to point that out, I simply go along, but tilt my head slightly. "And besides, I should probably make up for being so mean to you and stealing something of yours." There's a tinge of sadness and regret in your voice, and you twist a ring off one of your fingers. "Here, take this." You say, placing it into my open palm. I admire it with slight confusion.

"A ring…with a silver…skull?" I peer down at it, turning it over in my hand to get a better look.

"You better keep it safe in your locket…Okay?" Your tone is authoritative, yet kind, in a sort of strange way.

"Well thank y-" I begin to speak and look up at you from the ring, but you don't allow me to finish my sentence, leaning over and firmly pressing your lips to mine. Out of shock, I begin to lose my sense of balance, and feel like I'm leaning forward, about to fall, but just before I'm able to panic, and use it as an excuse to scramble away, you outstretch an arm in front of me, like a railing, and place your hand down beside my far leg. It seems like you're using it as an excuse to lean in more, and kiss me with more force. My heart feels like it's going to burst, and my face feels like it's burning, but I can't bring myself to break away from you. I push back against your force slightly, and you seem to take it as a challenge, placing your other hand just behind me, as if to keep me right where I am, while also giving you more leverage. I wearily move one of my hands to your shoulder, lightly pushing away, hardly able to breathe, and carefully trying to separate from you. You seem to understand and allow the kiss to end, but still hover over me as I attempt to catch my breath. Seeming mostly unaffected by what just took place, you simply look at me. I cover my mouth with the hand I had pressed on your shoulder, my face still reddened, and I can feel myself shaking slightly, from adrenaline no doubt. "What the-? Did you…just…Did I…? What was that…?" The words are shaky and breathless, with just a touch of confusion.

"What's wrong? We're friends now, and friends give each other kisses. Right? I read that…" You state matter-of-factly, running your sleeve over your mouth.

"B-But that was my first kiss ever!" I manage, shocked.

"Oh. Huh. Well then I guess that makes me your number one buddy. Best friends, right?" A devious smile crosses your features as you speak, and I slowly remove my hand from over my mouth.

"My best friend?" I murmur, slightly confused, pondering over what you'd just said. "Yeah. We're friends now." I say with more certainty, accepting your words.

"You bet!" A slight laugh escapes you, and we both go quiet for a moment, watching the park beginning to clear, the crowd starting to thin, and some of the lights that had shone so brightly flickering out, until it seemed like everything was abandoned. No more people, no more lights, and through it all no one had noticed the two of us up here, swinging our legs off the edge, one of your hands lightly lain over one of mine, without a care in the world and the moon at our backs.

The night seemed to last forever, just the two of us. At dawn, we parted ways, with promises to meet again sometime, somewhere, the how left undetermined. We were both simply certain that our paths would cross again, sharing an unspoken mutual feeling that somehow it would just happen. As if by magic, just like our meeting.


	3. Running on Batteries

I can feel it all slowly draining away as you press on, determined as ever to find a way out. We're almost there, we've almost reached the surface, and I know you'll be able to find your way from here. I've known you for so little time, true, but it feels like so long. It's all beginning to fade away, and you can tell something's wrong. The world cuts away for a few moments, and I can't remember what happened, but I must've said something, because when I snap back to reality I'm on the ground and you're looking at me urgently.

You're so upset, and the desperation in your voice is obvious as you plead, asking me what you need to do to save me. Asking what you're supposed to do, as if this was something you were supposed to be prepared for. As if this was something you could prevent. Oh how I wish you were right, and how I wish you didn't have to feel the hopelessness that I can hear overtaking you.

 _Warning: Battery low._

Not this.

 _Warning: Battery low._

It would figure.

 _Warning: Battery low._

I'm sorry.

With my limited time left, quickly ticking away, chipping away at my remaining life force and reserves of energy, trying my best to remain… _just a little longer._

I don't want to leave you. I'm not afraid of 'death,' or what comes when the darkness takes me, but I am afraid of what will happen to you. So gentle, so young. And so alone. Wandering the world, all too trusting, and all too kind. You may be strong, and getting stronger, but the things out there that you are more than likely to encounter are _stronger._ I'm worried for you. I hope that you'll make it, that you'll be alright in the end no matter what happens. You'll be fine without me, but I don't know if you'll be fine all by yourself again.

I try to convey everything to you as the seconds slip away, into the darkness and dirt of the room. I would have loved to see the surface with you, see where you'll go, the things you'll accomplish and see. I would have loved to be by your side for all of it, but such is not to be.

You saved me, and I can only hope I was able to be of help to you. I begin to recall the things we saw together, our experiences, and I play back over it all. I remember our meeting, how alone I was in that room, about to malfunction in that decrepit station. I knew it was useless, but I kept calling out, wondering if _someone_ might hear me; and to my surprise you did. Thinking about how you were just as alone as I was, seemed somehow comforting.

The time we spent together, looking for that strange girl, escaping the station, playing hide-and-seek with that bratty ghost girl. I'll remember it all. I'll treasure every memory, every moment. I'm glad that I got to spend this time with you. I'm glad I'm not alone right now. In this all too empty, lonely world, the fact that you found me, that you're here now, is more than enough.

Thirty-seven seconds is not enough time, it's really no time at all. Thirty-seven fleeting seconds left. That's all. That's all the time I have left to tell you everything I haven't thus far. It's time for final goodbyes, I guess. That is all there's time for at this point.

I've already asked you to not speak, to simply allow me to, and you obliged. I want to tell you how remarkable your kindness is, and how far your hope will spread, and how far it will get you. I want to tell you to never lose hope, but I have to choose my words carefully. I want to tell you that I hope I may leave you with as pleasant of memories as you leave me with, but I can't. Too much to say, too little time, and too few words to express what I want, no, what I need to say to you.

Before it's all over, I have to tell you everything. Yet, I don't have the time for that.

So I resign myself to a simple " _Thank you."_

It's all I can think of, the only thing I think I can say, to express all I want you to know, in the fewest words possible, wasting the least amount of time possible, but still wasting all too much.

Having been able to say such a phrase, I can go with ease now. I can leave you in peace, and at peace, knowing I was able to say what I needed to.

That is, until I realize I never knew your name.

The one thing I never remembered to ask. Of course I had to remember at the last moment.

I try to ask it quickly, hopeful.

I hope you're able to respond before the last second ticks out.

But thirty-seven seconds isn't enough time.

It's nowhere near enough time.

. . .

Goodbye, my nameless friend.

Goodbye, my _only_ friend.


End file.
